


An Average Wednesday

by Clairemaroon65



Category: Joker (2019)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:21:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26417917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clairemaroon65/pseuds/Clairemaroon65
Summary: After living in Gotham for the past few months, a young woman meets Arthur Fleck on a strange elevator ride.
Relationships: Arthur Fleck/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24





	1. Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiii! This is my first fanfiction ever so I'm a little nervous, but I hope you guys enjoy :) If anyone has any constructive comments for how I can improve my writing it would be greatly appreciated!

Another day, another dollar. 

The streets of Gotham were lined with trash and beat up cars, but the deterioration of the city was of little consequence to Joy as she hustled to her dead end teller job. Ironic isn’t it, to be counting dollar bills all day long but ending the day in a dinky studio apartment with a $100 used futon posing as a real mattress. But hey, that’s life right? 

Having moved to the city around 6 months ago, Joy was still getting her proper barings and meshing with the hopeless citizens of Gotham. However, despite the seemingly desperate and pathetic situation she found herself in, Joy was content. In fact, she was downright happy. Afterall, a life in Gotham was better than living in her small town where every corner housed painful memories. 

Her life had structure now and that’s all Joy wanted at the moment. She woke up each morning at 6:30 am. The next 20 minutes were spent brushing teeth, showering and doing makeup. By 6:50 she was grabbing a stale store bought bagel and running out the door to catch her train to downtown. Finally, by 7:30 she was walking through the side door of Gotham City Bank and slipping into her little seat behind a big glass window to greet the first customer of the day.

The work was good. She loved the simplistic action of counting bills and conversing with some of the older folk that would slip in from 11am - 2pm. Plus, no work on Sundays. Not too shabby when you think about it in those terms. 

The only day of the week she both dreaded and looked forward to were Wednesdays. As part of her move to the big, grizzly city, Joy took the initiative and began the painful work of healing herself from the inside out. After all, growing up with an alcoholic father and absentee mother leaves behind some nasty scars. So, after work on Wednesdays she would begin the 20 minute walk down to her therapy office over on 14th and reflect on any notable feelings or thoughts from the week that she wanted to discuss with her therapist. Accompanying her would always be a deep purple notebook containing the thoughts and insights gained from her weekly appointments. This notebook was her safety line and constant reminder of what her purpose was right now. 

This Wednesday, like any other Wednesday, was shaping up the same way it always did. A nice thoughtless day at work followed by her peaceful walk to the clinic. Only difference today was this damn rain. Droplets were catapulting to the ground in what Joy assumed was a record pace, quickly drenching her umbrella-less frame. By the time she made it under the awning of her building, the bottom half of her black work pants were drenched and sticking to her ankles. And darn, her cute little black flats were just soaked through. As she walked through the lobby doors she made a mental note of the water footprints she left behind on the old, grey carpet as she made the short trip to the elevator. 

_Welp. I would be that girl to track footprints through the lobby of my therapist's office...Hopefully no one puts two and two together and guesses it’s me. Maybe I could make a trip to the restroom and subtly lift my feet up to the air dryer?_

Lost in her thoughts, it took Joy a moment to comprehend the closing elevators. In a beat, her eyes shot wide open and her arm reached out in front of her. “Hold the door, please!” Following her short outburst she saw an elegantly lengthy brown soled foot pop out to hold the door open. As soon as she got the green light to gain passage to the elevator, she put her booty into overdrive and nearly slipped on the metal frame of the elevator door. 

Once safely inside, she turned to her saviour with a smile on her pretty olive skinned face, “Thank you so much! You just saved me a 5 minute wait for the next elevator.” She finished her comments with a slight chuckle just to prove her appreciation and start a friendly rapport. 

Upon looking at him, she noted his response to her friendliness was a bit odd. While he shifted his gaze towards her, he didn’t shift his head too much. Instead, his eyes smoothly turned to her followed by a slight tilt of his head and a smirk. It was unnerving to say the least. 

As he remained staring at Joy with no sign of verbally responding, her own smile slowly shifted to neutral. Joy shifted her own eyes to the front of the elevator and decided he likely wasn’t great with strangers, who was she to judge? Both of them were likely heading to a therapist office as this was a mental health associated building. Pushing forward, she felt awkward reaching her hand over and across the stranger’s thin body, but managed to press the 16th floor button. She made note of the already illuminated button for floor 17. 

As the doors closed and the elevator began it’s ascent, she felt the stranger’s eyes burning into the side of her face. Glancing anywhere but to the right of her, Joy began shifting uncomfortably and creating a death grip on her precious notebook. 

_Dear God can this elevator be any slower._

**Ding.**

As soon as the liberating sound broke through the dead silence, she was up at attention and ready for those doors to slide on open. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the stranger almost mimicking her new posture. He immediately straightened his spine and lifted his head proudly. All while keeping his piercing eyes on her, of course. 

As the 16th floor lobby came into view, Joy stepped through the doors and began walking towards the sleek, solid wood doors of her therapist’s office. Within two steps of standing on solid ground her scramble was interrupted by a sharp “Hey!”

The exclamation shook her a little and she reacted in the best way she knew how, by immediately following the commanding tone’s want and flipping around to face the stranger. In doing so, she got caught in his strange intense gaze. A second passed and she saw the stranger pull their lips back into a strange, unnatural smile and say “Y-you’re welcome!” in a strong, child like voice. 

Caught completely off guard by the entire situation, Joy had no time to come up with a proper response. So, the next thing she knew the doors closed and the strange man was no longer in sight. With that, she began officially walking towards her therapists office with a slight shake of her head and widened eyes. 

_Well, I guess I don’t really have time to dry off my feet.  
..What the hell just happened?_


	2. End of the Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for taking a while to post but here's the next chapter! Let me know what you think :)

_Squish, squish, squish._

_Goddammit I’m tracking water into her office now aren’t I?_

Pushing open the office door, the first thing Joy noticed was her therapist’s obnoxiously orange sundress. Somehow, without fail, her therapist always seemed to dress to impress. In a city like Gotham that was a definite rarity and something Joy admired. 

There, standing straight with a smile on her face was Joy’s wonderful therapist, Ann. “Joy! How are you?” 

“Pretty good, except for all the rain we’re having I suppose. But, what can you do?” Joy ends the response with a slight chuckle and a shoulder shrug. Immediately spotting the dull green color, she directed herself to her favorite spot on the couch, just in between the two center cushions. Once settled she reached for her favorite emotional support pillow to clutch during sessions. It was a beautiful shade of blood red and had a smooth velvety texture. 

Taking her queue, Ann took her place in the cushy, dull green victorian chair directly across from Joy’s position. “Ah yes, rain is never fun huh? So, how have you been?”

Without missing a beat - “Oh you know, same ol’, same ol’. Nothing super exciting to be completely honest.” 

_Silence. Pause._

After maintaining eye contacting for a few suspenseful moments, both Joy and Ann shared a loving laugh. “Right, right” Ann acknowledges with a smile. “So, how has your anxiety been this week? I know the week before wasn’t the best, and I was hoping you would call me if you had any other hard moments.”

With a soft voice Joy answers, “Hmm, good question. I suppose it’s been better this past week. I’ve been trying to cook a lot more.”

“Oh you’re cooking! Wonderful, what kinds of meals have you been making?”

“Mmm...lots of pasta dishes! Pretty much anything that’s yummy and filling” 

“Right..So! How has your socializing been going? Did you end up going out Friday night with that coworker?”

“HA, no.”

Sharing a giggle, Ann dug further “Ok well, explain what’s going on girl?”

_Sigh._ “Alright so…”

Explaining her anxieties with other people, especially about new friends, was never easy for Joy. She pushed through those strong barriers and expressed her feelings of worry about putting herself out there despite being uncomfortable. The conversation ended with a bit of a thought experiment thrown Joy’s way by Ann. “Next time you’re feeling yourself pull away and reject someone, how would it feel to reject that feeling?”

Leaving the session Joy began her elevator descent down to the lobby. Once the elevator doors opened, Joy shuffled her way towards the outside world. Heaving open the creaky lobby doors to the outside world the first thing Joy detected was the strong stench of cigarette smoke. Trying to spot the culprit her eyes scanned and landed and on the guy from elevator earlier. 

Standing there clutching his own notebook in his hand, the man mindlessly stared ahead puffed away on that cigarette. Joy took a moment to admire the strange man. Lithe fingers, roughened facial features, and a soft head of brown curls. 

_Hmm...maybe this is a sign to challenge myself._

Not believing herself doing it, Joy began shifting her weight towards the man. Taking a few steps closer until she was about a foot away. She caught her breath, “Hey, could I bum one of those?” 

A pair of rounded, anxious green eyes swiveled her way.

**Author's Note:**

> ....lmk what you think! Is this lame?! Fun to read?! lol Interesting at all?


End file.
